Two of a Kind
by Xodarap
Summary: Xander goes to Gotham City looking for a slayer and finds something that he didn't expect.


**Two of a Kind**

By Paradox761

Disclaimer: Me no own, you no sue.

Summary: Xander goes to Gotham City looking for a slayer

Dedication: For Helen, my better half, the love of my life

(BtVS/DC, Xander/?)

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The Hellmouth was closed, and Sunnydale was gone. The idea still took getting used to. The town that he'd grown up in, where he'd spent most of his entire life, nothing more than a smoking crater. He understood that it was a good thing, the Hellmouth was a foothold for the forces of darkness in their world, and it was gone now. But Sunnydale had been his home, it was all that he knew, and part of him was sad that that part of his life was over now. His friends were still alive, for the most part, he was thankful for that. Even though they were spread out all over the place now.

But there were those that never made it out of Sunnydale, and he would always remember them. Jesse, his childhood best friend. Jenny Calendar, so brave. Joyce, kind, a second mother to him. Tara, possibly the sweetest person who ever lived.

And of course Anya. It still hurt to think about her, her death was still so fresh. He loved her, so much so that the fear of becoming his father, of hurting her, drove him to do something that would hurt her all the same. He had so many regrets. There was so much that he wished he could have told her in the end. Their brief reconciliation the night before the final battle in Sunnydale had been too brief. Driven back together by fear, he somehow still thought that they would have time. That he would have time to make things right again. But in its parting shot, the Hellmouth had struck its cruelest blow and taken that all away from him.

In the beginning it had been easy to push his grief aside, focus on his friends, on figuring out their next move. It was strange, as much of a relief as it was to be rid of the Hellmouth, to be free of the fight against evil should they so choose, they all chose to keep fighting. They set up shop in Cleveland. Giles used what Watcher funds that he still had access to and bought a large house and they started building a slayer school. There was a lot of work to do at first and it was a good distraction. But after a few months, he needed to do something else. Willow and Kennedy had gone down to South America looking for slayers. Faith and Wood headed West to do the same. Dawn was in school and Buffy and Giles were busy training the new slayers and keeping up with the apocalypse-o-the-week. It was time to move on. With Willow's magical contacts it was pretty easy to get a line on slayers, and so he decided that a roadtrip of his own was in order. Buffy hadn't wanted him to go alone, but he assured her that he would be fine. He wanted some time alone. Time to think.

He didn't know why he picked Gotham City. It seemed like the furthest thing from Sunnydale that he could think of, maybe that was why. There was evil in Gotham, but it was of the decidedly human variety. And for the most part the Bat kept it under control. Maybe that was what drew him there, Batman. He found the masked vigilante oddly fascinating. He embraced darkness in order to fight it. He invoked terror in his enemies, and yet he was all about control. He briefly considered that the caped crusader may be a vampire himself. Only coming out at night, disappearing into the shadows. But he dismissed the idea almost as soon as he thought of it. The M.O. was wrong, a vampire wouldn't call so much attention to himself. Whatever it was that drove the dark knight, Xander bet that it had a lot to do with pain. In his own experience, nothing motivated quite like inner pain.

He had been in Gotham only a few days, trying to find the supernatural underbelly under the regular human underbelly in hopes that he could find whoever had tripped Willow's magical slay-dar. But so far he had come up empty, not so much as a single vampire. He patrolled cemeteries, drove around by the docks, searched every alley in every bad neighborhood that he could find. He broke up about a dozen muggings, but all the participants had been human. He was about to rethink his strategy when he finally happened upon what he was looking for.

He was driving a black '66 GTO convertible that he had gotten cheap from a police auction back in Cleveland. He had developed a fondness for late model convertibles ever since he had borrowed his Uncle Rory's back in high school. It was a good car and it didn't call too much attention to itself. He was navigating it through one of the rougher parts of town, keeping his eyes peeled for trouble, when he found it. Commotion in an alley, the telltale sounds of a fight mixed with snarls and growls. Someone was either fighting vampires, or a mountain lion. He pulled the muscle car over to the side and got out in a hurry. Rushing to the trunk he popped it open to reveal a small arsenal. He tucked a few stakes into his belt, grabbed a crossbow and threw it over his shoulder by the strap, and just for good measure he grabbed a short sword. Xander may never have been a Boy Scout, but he did believe in being prepared.

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Sitting in an alley, alone and crying, a single female figure sat against a brick wall, silhouetted by the moonlight. She didn't understand what was happening to her. One morning several months ago she just woke up and felt…different. Things seemed sharper, clearer. Her own body felt different to her, like she had complete control of every muscle at all times. She had always been agile, but now her reflexes were positively supernatural. And her strength was unbelievable. Jocko had snuck up behind her one day and slapped her on the ass. Before she knew what she was doing she had slammed her elbow into his face, breaking his nose, grabbed his arm twisted it, flipping him over and onto his back. His head bounced off the floor and knocked him out. After that, the other hired hands stayed away from her. And then there were the dreams. Practically every night she dreamt about monsters, creatures with deformed faces and sharp fangs, fighting with young girls. She woke up in a cold sweat with the urge to hit something. One night she woke up and smashed her nightstand into kindling.

She was afraid. And there was one person that she could always turn to when she was afraid. One man who was always there for her, the only man who really understood her. He would help her. He would keep the monsters away. But, that wasn't what happened. She went to him, and he pushed her away. He said she was crazy, and then when he saw for himself what she could do, he said that she was too dangerous and he sent her away. The only man who she had ever truly loved had rejected her. And now she was alone and afraid in some godforsaken back alley with nowhere to go.

Harley Quinn wasn't afraid because she was in a dangerous neighborhood, she had always been able to take care of herself. She wasn't even afraid of what was happening to her. It was strange, but part of her understood that what she was becoming was better, even if she didn't understand why. No, Harley was afraid of the only thing that she had ever been afraid of. She was afraid of being alone.

She heard voices at the end of the alley, but she ignored them. When they got closer, she looked up. There were three of them. The one in front looked like a tweaker, skinny, he wore a leather jacket and ripped jeans and his hair was spiked. He had a gaunt face with hollow eyes and a creepy smile. The other two were smiling too. One of them wore a suit covered in dirt, and the other looked like he was homeless, dressed in rags. They were a strange group to be hanging around together, Harley thought.

"Well, look at who we have here. It's the Joker's main squeeze," the tweaker said. "What are you doing out here all alone, honey?"

"Piss off!" she hissed.

The cronies laughed, but the tweaker didn't think it was funny. "You got a mouth on you, clown girl," he said. "Maybe someone should teach you some manners."

Harley wasn't afraid of two-bit thugs like these. She reached into her purse next to her and pulled out a pistol with a large boxing glove sticking out of the front of it. "You going to try it, tough guy."

They all laughed this time. Until the tweaker took a step toward her and she fired. The glove shot out with a bang and struck him right in the face, knocking his head back and sending him stumbling into his pals. When he turned back he snarled, and an inhuman sound came out of his throat. His face had changed. He had a protruding brow and sharp fangs. "You're going to pay for that, bitch," he said. The faces of the other two changed as well.

Now Harley was afraid. She pushed herself against the wall and rose to her feet. These were the monsters in her dreams, they were real and they were here. They started toward her. And with her back literally against a wall, she reacted on pure instinct. She lashed out with her fists.

She caught the tweaker off guard with a right cross that would have shattered a normal man's jaw. He staggered back, buying Harley some room. She could have run. The logical part of her brain that was screaming at her that none of this made any sense was urging her to run. But her instincts told her to stay and fight. The homeless man ran at her and she sent a kick straight to his midsection, doubling him over. Then she spun and delivered a roundhouse to the side of his head, sending him sprawling to the ground. When she turned the man in the dirty suit was coming at her, reaching for her throat. She grabbed his wrists and rolled backward, planting a foot in his stomach and flipping him over her. He sailed into the air, flipping over once and coming down on his back.

She got back to her feet and the tweaker was on her again, trying to get his teeth into her neck. She hit him in the face again and again, but he didn't seem to care. He just kept coming, snarling and talking under his breath. She could only pick out one word though that he kept repeating. Slayer.

She was aware that the other two creatures were getting up somewhere behind her, but the tweaker was keeping her too busy to turn around. He was stalling until his friends could box her in, get her cornered again so they could take her all at once. She was trying to figure out how to keep that from happening when she heard something else from behind her. It was a soft thud followed by one of the monsters crying out in pain. The tweaker looked up at the sound too and Harley used the distraction to grab his arm, twist it and then turn and flip him over her shoulder.

What she saw when she was turned was the homeless guy with several arrows sticking out of his chest. Further down the alley there was a man running toward the fight holding a crossbow. When he got closer he let the crossbow fall to his side and pulled out a sword. The homeless guy rushed him. The man with the sword just raised his foot and planted a boot directly against one of the arrows, driving it in further and causing the monster to double over and howl with pain. He then brought the sword down quickly and took off the creature's head. The head didn't even hit the ground before it and the body both exploded into dust.

The one in the dirty suit ran at him now, roaring like an animal. The man just pulled something from his belt, then sidestepped the charging monster at the last second and slammed the object into its chest. He exploded into dust just like his friend. The man looked around, saw that there weren't any others, then brushed himself of and started casually walking toward Harley. "How's it going?" he called out cheerily. As he got closer and stepped into the light, Harley could see that he was wearing an eye patch. "Need any help with that one?"

Harley was still in a daze and wasn't sure what he meant at first. Then she looked down and realized that she was still holding the arm of the tweaker, and that he was flat on his back on the ground and she had her foot on his neck. He was struggling against her grip but he wasn't able to free himself. She hadn't even realized that she had done it. And she wasn't straining to hold him in place at all. She looked back up at the eye patch man, the look of shock must have been clear on her face.

"It's okay, you're going to be fine," he said reassuringly. "Stake through the heart, decapitation, sunlight or fire. Those are the only ways to kill one. Here, give it a try." He took one of the objects from his belt and tossed it to her. She realized as she watched it tumble through the air toward her that it was a wooden stake. Instinct took over again as she plucked it out of the air, squatted down and plunged it into the tweaker's chest. He disintegrated into ash, just like the other two had. She fell back onto her butt, letting the stake fall from her hand. For a moment she just sat there, processing everything that had just happened. The eye patch man stayed nearby, but he didn't say anything.

Finally, after a few minutes, she spoke. "Were they…vampires?" she asked, the word feeling funny on her lips.

"Yeah, they were," the man said. "My name is Xander. I'm sure that you have a lot of questions. I can help you answer them."

She seemed to think about that for a moment, then she shook her head and stood. "No, that was pretty much my only question," she said, picking up her boxing glove gun and reloading it. "I don't need to know anything else. I don't *want* to know anything else, I just want to get the hell out of here." She walked past Xander and headed back to the front of the alley.

"Are the dreams bad?" Xander asked.

She stopped. A few seconds went by and she just stood there. Then she turned back around. "What did you say?"

"The dreams. The ones where you see young girls fighting vampires and demons. Have they gotten bad?" For a moment neither of them said anything. "They'll taper off and eventually stop. They only come when you're first called. I think they're supposed to help explain what you are, by showing you the slayers that came before you. That's what you are, Harley. You're a slayer."

Again, part of her wanted to run, to deny that any of this was real. But she couldn't do that. Whatever this was that was happening to her, she needed to know, for better or worse.

She was about to open her mouth and say something when she heard a garbage can fall over behind her. She and Xander both turned to look and saw another two-bit punk, this one definitely human, shambling toward them from the dark. He pulled out a switchblade and held it out in front of him. "Give me all your money!" He yelled.

Xander raised his crossbow and Harley her boxing glove gun. The hood's eyes went wide and he turned on his heel. "Shit, never mind," he said, leaving the alley as quickly as possible.

"God, I hate this town," Harley said.

Xander chuckled at that. "Come on, let's get a cup of coffee or something. We can talk."

Harley just nodded and followed as Xander led the way out of the alley and toward his car. Something occurred to her as she walked and she stopped suddenly. "Wait a minute," she said. "How do you know my name?"

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Of course he knew her name, she was Harley Quinn. Dr. Harleen Quinzel was a psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum, where she fell in love with the Joker and helped him escape and became his girlfriend/sidekick. The red and black jester outfit made her pretty easy to spot. When Xander had first run down the alley and saw her, he thought that maybe he had been wrong about it being vampires and that it was just some regular Gotham City crime. But when he saw their game faces and he saw Harley fight, he knew that she was the reason that he was here. She had been called. Harley Quinn was a slayer.

It took Xander about a tenth of a second to decide what to do. It didn't matter who she was, she was a slayer and she was in trouble, it was his job to help her. After that, he'd give her the old 'This world is older than you know' speech and let her make her own decision. At least, that was the plan.

Two hours later the pair was still sitting in a corner booth at an all-night diner, talking and laughing like they had known each other their whole lives. Harley was still wearing her costume but her hood was back and her makeup washed off, her blonde hair up in pigtails. She was on her third slice of banana cream pie and Xander was on his second slice of apple, telling her about the group's setup in Cleveland.

"So, the hellmouth in Sunnydale is closed now, but there's one in Cleveland too?" Harley asked.

"Yup," Xander answered. "It's not as powerful as the one in Sunnydale was, but it puts out enough juice to attract a good number of unsavory characters."

"And it's really under the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?"

Xander nodded. "Surprised?"

"Not really, no."

"The last time we were there was for this doomsday cult that was trying to open it and suck the world into hell. Just humans, no heavy hitters, so it was just me and Faith and a couple of newbie slayers. They did have a mage with them though, ended up being pretty powerful, threw a couple of fireballs at us, destroyed some of the displays. Faith grabbed a guitar from one of the broken cases and threw it at him, got him right in the head, knocked him out cold. The rest of them scattered after that. We put out the fires but the place was still a mess when we left, and Faith says 'That's what they get for not letting in KISS'."

Harley laughed, and the warm sound seemed to fill the diner. Xander couldn't help but smile. She was so easy to talk to, he didn't feel insecure around her the way he sometimes did with other slayers. She didn't put on any kind of façade, if she was scared or confused or angry, she let you know it. And when she laughed or smiled at him, it made him feel good in a way that he hadn't felt in a long time. He knew that she was being real with him, because she didn't know any other way. It was refreshing, and Xander found himself opening up to her. He discovered that they both had similarly odd senses of humor, and he enjoyed making her laugh.

"This Faith sounds like my kind of girl," Harley said.

"So come to Cleveland with me and meet her," Xander said.

"I don't know. I don't think I have it in me to go straight. I tried it before, it didn't last long."

"There's an entire house full of people in Cleveland whose sole purpose is to help slayers, you wouldn't have to do it alone. You wouldn't be the first slayer we recruited with a criminal record. We try not to judge people by their past, we want to help them build a future. We want to help them understand what they are and how to use their abilities to help the world. This could be a fresh start for you, Harley. Leave all of this behind, leave *him* behind. You don't have to be a villain anymore. You can be a hero."

Xander saw the look that crossed her face when he said 'him', and he knew now what she was really worried about. It wasn't leaving behind a life of crime that she was afraid of, it was a life without the Joker. Sure, he was a mentally unhinged homicidal maniac, but she loved him. Maybe she didn't really even understand why. It was clear that a new start interested her, but until she got over the Joker, she couldn't leave Gotham.

"Think about it," Xander said. "I'll be in Gotham for a bit longer. If you have any questions, or…if you just need someone to talk to."

Harley nodded. Clearly, she was thinking about it.

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Xander spent the next two days puttering around his dingy motel room in Gotham City, wondering what the hell he was still doing there. The M.O. for recruiting slayers was to give them the pitch, then you leave either with them or without them. Giving them the hard sell just made it look like you were after something. So why couldn't he let it go? Harley had to make her own decision. And if she decided that she'd rather hang out with a homicidal clown then come to Cleveland and be a slayer, then that was her problem. What did he care? There were certainly plenty of other slayers that needed help. But every time he thought about leaving, he would see those big blue eyes in his head. She deserved better than the clown. She deserved a chance at a new life. Could he really just leave her here just because she was too afraid to take it?

At 3:00 in the morning on the second night, or third day, his phone rang. He fumbled for it, half asleep, and through one bloodshot eye he saw the image on the screen was a picture he had taken with the phone of Harley that night in the dinner, a closed-mouth smile with a mouthful of pie. He scrambled to a sitting position and hit the answer button.

"Harley?"

"Xander, I…I need help. I didn't know who else to call, I'm in trouble." She sounded out of breath, and in pain. She also sounded scared but she was trying to hide it.

"Okay, calm down. Just tell me where you are."

She gave him the intersection. "It's in the warehouse district, by the docks."

"I know where that is," he said. He had been driving around Gotham for the last week practically, he could probably draw a street map from memory. "Sit tight, I'll be there in ten minutes."

Xander was dressed, out the door and behind the wheel of his GTO so fast that he was sure he set a land speed record. The engine roared to life and he peeled out of the parking lot and pointed the muscle car toward the docks. At that time in the morning there was hardly any traffic so he was making good speed. His adrenaline was pumping, his mind racing, trying to prepare for whatever scenario awaited him. He felt a sense of dread deep in his chest, it was the same sensation he felt whenever Buffy or Willow or Dawn was hurt. Or Anya. It came with a sense of angry determination as well, and a strong desire to find whatever it was that had caused them that pain and make sure that it paid for it, a thousand times over. He silently wondered when Harley had become so important to him to warrant such a reaction.

Xander made it to the intersection in eight and a half minutes, and what he found made him simultaneously relieved and angry. Harley was there alone, but she looked terrible. She was wearing civilian clothes, jeans and a black hoodie, and she was covered in dirt and dried blood, with a gash on her forehead. She was cradling her left arm and when she walked, she limped slightly. Xander was relieved that she wasn't in any immediate danger, but again he felt anger toward whatever had caused her injuries. He stopped the car next to her and she looked relieved when she saw him. She got in quickly and Xander hit the gas as soon as the door was shut, not knowing yet exactly what the situation was he wanted to make a quick retreat.

"What happened?" he asked, hoping that his voice didn't sound as desperate to her as it did to him.

She winced as she adjusted herself in the seat. Her arm was clearly broken. "I thought I could be a hero, that's what happened," she said.

"What do you mean?"

She sighed. "I've been holed up in this loft in the industrial district for the last couple days, it's one of Mister J's old safe houses. But he stopped using it when the rest of the lofts in the building sold, too many people around that might spot him. Nobody ever recognizes me out of costume. I knew there would be some clothes there and some money, I could stay there until I figured out my next move. So tonight I'm walking back when I hear someone screaming from the alley. Normally I wouldn't have thought twice, wouldn't have cared." She paused, dabbing at the wound on her head, wiping the blood from her eyes. "Tonight I cared. They were bloodsuckers, three of them, they were attacking a woman. I thought I could take them easy, get out some frustration."

"There was more than three, wasn't there?"

"They came out of the damn walls! They must have been living in the warehouse next door. They just kept coming, no matter how many I killed. I knew they were wearing me down, and they knew it too. So I ran. I ran until it felt like my heart was going to explode, and then I kept running. I don't know how, but I lost them. I didn't know what else to do, I couldn't go back to the loft, so I called you."

"I'm glad you did."

"You know, I've been in gunfights before, I've been in prison riots, I've been in some real tight spots. But tonight was the first time that I really felt like I was going to die. I don't even know what happened to the woman they were attacking, she's probably dead." Harley was holding back tears now. She reached out and banged her fist on the dash out of frustration. "She's dead because of me, because I wasn't good enough. I told you I wasn't cut out for this. Some hero I turned out to be."

Xander slammed on the brakes, bringing the GTO to a screeching halt. Harley steadied herself against the dash and looked at him like he was crazy.

"Bullshit," he said.

"What?"

"You walked into an ambush. You weren't prepared, that was the only mistake you made. You're not a bad hero, you're just new at it, that's all. Don't beat yourself up over that. You saw someone in trouble and you ran to help them, you risked your life to help them, a complete stranger. That makes you a big damn hero as far as I'm concerned. The experience will come, if you keep at it. If you have somebody who can help you. Every slayer needs a watcher, that's what the school in Cleveland is for. Every hero needs a support system. You *can* do it, and you don't have to do it alone."

Harley's eyes became glassy and she looked down at the floor. Xander had a feeling that she wasn't accustomed to people expressing confidence in her and she wasn't sure how to react. He put his foot back on the gas and continued driving.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"Back to my motel to get you cleaned up, let you get some sleep," Xander answered.

"Shouldn't I go to the hospital?"

Xander shook his head. "Slayers heal fast. Not Wolverine-fast, but you should be fine in a few hours. That gives us enough time until sunrise."

"What happens at sunrise?"

"The sun comes up," Xander answered with a cheeky smile. Despite her uncertainty, Harley found herself smiling back. "Then, I'm going to show you how to clear out a nest."

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Xander was right, a little first aid and a few hours of sleep and Harley felt fine. The gash on her head wasn't even a mark anymore, and her arm felt a little stiff, but there was no sign of the break. Her clothes were in worse shape than she was. She ditched the hoodie all together, it was a lost cause. The jeans weren't too bad though, she kept those on and the red and black halter that she had been wearing under the hoodie.

After sunrise they drove back to the industrial district and Harley showed Xander the abandoned warehouse next to her loft where she believed the vampires to be holed up. Xander parked on the next block over and they walked up. They walked around the building first, noting all of the exits. Then they found a fire escape and used it to climb to the roof. There were a couple of large skylights that were nailed shut, the glass covered in black spray paint. Xander examined the skylights closely to see what kind of condition they were in and to look for spots in the glass that he could see through to see into the building. He found none. He looked up at the building next door.

"How many stories is the building where your loft is?"

"Five, why?"

"That makes this building around three. The windows on the building are big, boarded up from the inside. They blacked out the skylights so that must mean the inside is just one big open space, that's good. They probably like it because no one can sneak up on them, but it also means that they've got nowhere to hide. The truck bays and the rollup doors are facing East, that helps us. We can block off the exists on the North and South sides, corral them west, that's probably where they'll go anyway, they'll figure they can stay out of the sun in the shadow of the building. Then we just pick them off from the roof."

"Pick them off with what?" Harley asked.

"Crossbows," Xander answered matter-of-factly. He turned and headed back toward the fire escape. "There's only two of us so we'll have to blow the doors. I should have enough to blow some of the windows too, the more sunlight we can let in the better."

"Enough what?"

Xander had reached the fire escape and started climbing down. He looked up at Harley and smiled. "C4," he answered.

Harley's eyes widened. "Seriously?"

"We have to do this quick while the sun is still low enough in the sky for this to work." Harley followed him down and back to his car where he popped the trunk and started picking out equipment.

"Damn," Harley said, getting a look at the inside of the trunk. "That's a lot of hardware."

Swords, axes, crossbows, stakes, guns, body armor, explosives, Harley even saw a pair of night vision goggles. "What can I say, I believe in being prepared. I must have been a boy scout in a past life or something." He handed one crossbow to Harley and slung another one over his shoulder from the strap. "Grab a sword too, in case we get into hand to hand." Looking down at the mobile armory, Harley wasn't sure what to pick. She didn't have a lot of experience with bladed weapons. She spotted a double headed axe, about two feet long and picked it up. "The lady has good taste," Xander said, grabbing a katana and slipping it inside the trenchcoat that he was wearing. He grabbed a few stakes as well and put them in his pockets and then grabbed the bundle of C4. Lastly, he grabbed a baseball bat. Harley wasn't sure what he needed that for, but she didn't ask.

"I'll setup the explosives, you try to find a way to barricade the doors on the North and South sides of the building, we'll meet on the roof. Try to be quick."

They headed back to the warehouse. Luckily it was still early enough in the morning that the streets were practically empty. Xander headed for the roll up doors and started setting the C4. Harley walked around the building and tried to find something that she could use to block the side exits. She found a dumpster with some old construction materials in it, cinderblocks and rebar. She could use that. She was going through it when she looked up and realized that she was standing in the same alley as last night, where the vampires had been attacking that woman right before she ran in. She didn't see a body anywhere, or any large pools of blood. When she looked further down the alley she saw a broken pair of high heel shoes. She must have run, Harley thought. Her showing up had been enough of a distraction, she must have ran down the alley, discarding her broken shoes so she could run faster. Did she make it? A week ago Harley couldn't have cared less. One more faceless victim in a city full of them. So why did she care now? She walked closer toward the shoes, looking down at the ground, not sure what she was looking for. Then she saw it. There was mud on the ground, and in the mud she saw a bare footprint. Past that on the pavement there were more muddy footprints, spaced far enough apart that the person who made them had to be running. Who else would have been in this alley barefoot? It had to have been her. She ran away. She made it. Harley found herself tearing up again. Why did she care, she asked herself again. She didn't know. She just knew that she did.

Harley finished barricading the doors and headed up to the roof, Xander was already there, standing by one of the skylights. He had in his hand a small black device that she assumed was the remote detonator for the C4. Slung over his shoulder by the strap was the crossbow, and in his other hand he held the bat. "Ready?" he asked simply.

She gripped her own crossbow tighter and nodded. She realized what the bat was for now. Xander pushed the button on the remote and she saw a red light come on, then a half second later an explosion rocked the building. That was loud enough to wake the dead, she thought. Literally.

Xander took the bat and swung it down at the skylight, breaking out the panes of glass. The glass shattered and fell down into the warehouse, followed by shafts of sunlight. For a minute or so, Harley couldn't hear anything other than the ringing of her ears, then she heard screams. Xander rushed to the other skylight and broke out the glass there as well, then he dropped the bat and rushed to the west end of the roof and motioned for Harley to follow. They peered over the edge, their crossbows at the ready, and waited.

It wasn't long before a door flew open and a vampire on fire ran out into the street. A few more followed him out, some on fire and some not. Xander took aim and started firing arrows down into them, aiming for the non-flaming vampires to start. He managed a couple chest shots, dusting at least one vamp. A few others he got through the head. He knew those shots wouldn't kill, but they would incapacitate. That would be enough to finish them off later, or maybe disorient them enough to drive them into the sunlight.

Harley followed suit with her own crossbow, hitting almost all of her targets. She dusted a couple of them and scored head shots on the rest. After a few minutes of this, she realized that she was out of arrows. "I'm empty," she said.

"Me too," Xander said.

"Now what do we do?"

"Well, we made quite a mess down there. I think we should go clean it up. Come on." He made his way back to the fire escape and Harley followed. "Ladies first," he said when they got there.

"Me?"

"You're the slayer, I'm just a one-eyed carpenter with a weapons fetish." At her look of apprehension he continued. "You have good instincts, trust them. Don't forget about the sunlight, you can use it to your advantage. You'll be fine, Harley. I've got your back."

Harley took a deep breath. "OK, let's go."

She descended the fire escape with Xander right behind her. She hit the sidewalk and took the double-headed axe from her belt and headed toward the alley. From street level the vampires' screams and shouts of confusion were much louder and inhuman sounding. She felt like she was marching into Hell to do battle with the devil himself. She was scared, but she also felt determined. She needed to end this, to prove to herself that she could. And with Xander behind her, she felt like she could do it. He showed confidence in her like no one ever had before, confidence that she could be more than just a henchwoman, she could be a hero.

She stepped into the alley and waded into the fray with her axe swinging, decapitating the first vampire she came across, his body exploding into dust. Another one with an arrow through his head ran at her swinging, fangs bared. She swayed side to side, dodging his blows before delivering a kick to his midsection, doubling him over. She then grabbed onto the arrow in his skull like a handle and used it to swing him out into the street and into the light, where he burst into flames. She went further into the alley, cutting through the injured vampires as she went. One with an arrow through his neck gurgled blood as it tried to attack, a roundhouse kick sent him to the ground where she took his head, dusting him. Another with three arrows in his chest traded blows with her for a few moments until she cracked him in the face with the handle of the axe, then swung it back around and cut his head off.

Most of the stragglers were gone by this point and Harley was almost at the other end of the alley, when from out of the door where the vampires had come, four more of them came out, uninjured. They must have escaped the initial sunlight attack from the blown doors and windows and stayed in a shadowed part of the building during the crossbow attack, Harley surmised.

"Hey Earl, it's that bitch from last night! The one that cost you your dinner," one of them said.

Earl turned. He was a large biker-looking vampire with a leather jacket and a face that looked like ten miles of bad road. Game face on, he snarled and started toward Harley. Gripping her axe with both hands, Harley reared back and hurled it forward. The axe spun end over end before the blade embedded itself right between Earl's eyes, digging a couple inches into his skull and knocking Earl onto his back.

"Harley!" Xander shouted.

She turned and he tossed her a wooden stake. Harley snatched it out of the air and turned back, swinging it into the chest of the first of Earl's cronies. The next two were practically on top of her before the dust from the first one had even hit the ground. Harley traded blows with them both at the same time, landing punches and kicks and bobbing and weaving her way out of the reach of their hands and teeth. After a few minutes of this, one of the vampires over extended a punch and Harley grabbed his arm and flipped him over and down onto his back. She then lean down and plunged the stake into his heart. The second one tried to tackle Harley while she was down, but she grabbed him and flipped him over her head as well, staking him on the ground.

Earl had climbed to his feet by this point, Harley's axe still protruding from his face. Harley turned and ran at him at full speed. When she was close she jumped, landing her feet on his chest she grabbed the handle of the axe and kicked off. She pulled the axe free and kicked Earl out of the alley and into the street where the sunlight hit him and he went up like a Roman candle. Harley did a single backflip and landed on her feet.

For a moment, the alley was eerily quiet. The vampires were all either plies of dust, or burning cinders. Then, Harley heard the sound of clapping. She turned and saw Xander applauding her. She smiled.

"That was…" he started, at a loss for words.

"Not bad."

"Not bad? That was…I take back what I said earlier, you're not good." Harley's face fell. "You're great! That was amazing! I've never seen a new slayer take apart an entire cadre like that. You looked like a veteran out there."

Harley beamed. "Really?"

Xander nodded. "All slayers get the abilities, strength, speed, reflexes. But they don't all have a natural aptitude. That was…pure talent."

"I bet you say that to all the girls," Harley said with a smile. Xander smiled back and laughed.

"You have a real chance at a new start here, Harley," Xander said. "I hope you take it."

Harley's smile faded. "A new start…in Cleveland," she said.

Xander didn't say anything for a moment, he just looked at her thoughtfully. "I've been thinking about that actually. I understand that you're not ready to leave Gotham just yet, and I respect that. But I can't let you pass up this chance because of that. So, if you agree, I would like to stay in Gotham and start your training here. I'd like to be your Watcher. If you'll have me."

Harley's eyes widened. "Xander, I…I don't know what to say. Can you do that? I mean, won't you get in trouble or something? What is that head Watcher guy going to say? What's his name, Giggles."

"Giles. And he'll probably say that I'm making an emotional decision. And I'll say maybe I am, but I still feel like it's the right decision. And then he'll say that new slayers belong at the school, and that you're not ready for a field assignment, and I'm not ready to be a field watcher yet. And then I would say, maybe, but was Buffy ready when she was 15? Were any of us ready back then? Circumstances were what they were and we had to deal with them, which is what I'm doing now. And he would say, but times are different now, slayers don't have to be alone. And then I would say…"

"I think I get the idea," Harley said, interrupting. "Sounds like you've thought this through."

"Maybe. A little."

"I don't want you to get in trouble. You have an important job, you have a life, I don't want to mess that up."

"You're not messing anything up," Xander insisted. "I can convince Giles, and even if I can't, I don't care. This is the right thing to do, I can't just…abandon you." He paused. "I won't."

For a moment the two of them just stared at each other. Then Harley closed the distance between them and pulled Xander into a hug, putting her head on his shoulder. "If you're sure that you want to stay, then I would love…for you to be my Watcher."

Xander returned the hug, squeezing her tightly. "I've never been so sure of anything in my life," he said softly.

888888888888888888888

Harley's loft ended up being the perfect place for training. Plenty of open floor space and high ceilings made it easy to setup all kinds of equipment. Gymnastics equipment for balance and agility, several punching bags of different sizes, wooden dummies for practice with swords and martial arts. Using his Watcher contacts and credit card Xander was also able to amass quite an arsenal for his new slayer.

The conversation that he had had with Giles about deciding to stay in Gotham hadn't gone at all the way he had predicted. After he explained the situation and his reasons for wanting to stay, Giles was quiet for a moment, then he told Xander that he should do whatever he thought was best and that if he needed any assistance to let him know. Xander had been so unprepared for that response that he launched into his pre-prepared defense of his decision before he even realized what the elder Watcher had said. They had a wonderful conversation after that where Giles told him that he was an adult now and that he was prepared to respect his choices and support him. Xander told him how much he appreciated having him in his life as a father figure and he told him that he loved him. Giles had even said it back, which floored Xander so much that it nearly brought him to tears. Giles did recommend bringing Harley to Cleveland whenever he could, he still believed that being around other slayers was the best training and Xander agreed. But he told Giles that he wasn't going to push Harley, that he was in Gotham to help and support her and he didn't want her to think that he had some kind of hidden agenda. Giles said he understood, and the two ended the conversation with Xander promising to still visit, if only for the girls' sake.

The conversation had changed Xander's perspective. He was a real Watcher now, with a slayer in his charge, and the approval of a man that he loved and respected like a father. It was scary, but it was also exciting. For the first time since he could remember, he felt like his life was on track.

A week or so after they cleared the nest next to the loft, Xander had started Harley's training and the two had started patrolling together. Harley asked him to move into the loft. They both agreed that it made logical sense and tried to ignore the other implications of the move. It was clear to them that they both had strong feelings for each other. But Xander was still grieving for Anya and Harley was still trying to figure out her feelings toward the Joker. Her obsession with him seemed to be waning. Xander suspected that it had to do with her being a slayer now. It gave her an identity apart from him and she was beginning to see that she had value as a person outside of that relationship.

One night, about a month or so after the clearing of the nest, Xander and Harley were at the loft training. Xander was wearing the padded boxing mitts and Harley was practicing her kicks. When suddenly, she stopped. She turned and started looking around the loft, an ashen look on her face. Xander didn't have slayer level senses but he could feel something too. Like all the air had been sucked out of the room. "There's somebody in here," Harley said after a minute, still looking around. Xander was looking too but neither saw anything.

The loft had an upper floor, a staircase lead to a landing with a railing that overlooked the rest of the loft and had a couple of bedrooms off of it. Harley was fixated on that landing and when Xander followed her gaze, he saw why. He could see the curtains blowing from a window in one of the bedrooms, and he knew that that window had been left closed. He heard Harley gasp and when he looked, he saw a dark figure standing on the landing. A moment later it leapt over the railing and down to the main floor with barely a sound. The figure stepped closer, and Xander realized why Harley now looked petrified. It was Batman.

"Evening, Miss Quinn," the Dark Knight said.

"No," Harley said, sounding more scared than Xander had ever heard her. "I'm not going back. Not now. I got something good going here, I've been straight for over a month!"

"I knew the Joker didn't use this building anymore, but after that explosion last month I thought that maybe I was wrong, that he was planning something. So I started watching, and I saw you two. Word on the street was that you have powers now and the Joker kicked you out, but I didn't believe it until I saw it myself."

"If you've been watching us then you know what she is. She's a slayer now, she's helping to protect this city. She's not a threat to anyone," Xander said.

"She has powers and she's been killing vampires, who says that makes her a slayer?" Batman challenged.

"I do!" Xander answered forcefully. "I'm a Watcher, I'm *her* Watcher. We have ways of finding the new slayers and I came to Gotham looking for her. I found her and I'm training her. That explosion last month was her taking out a nest of two dozen vamps. There are things in this city that even you aren't prepared to deal with, and Harley can help. But not if you take her back to Arkham."

"If she wants to help then she can do it after she's served her time and been rehabilitated. Nobody is above the law," Batman returned.

Xander found his concern turning to anger. "Really? Nobody? Do you have a badge on that outfit somewhere that I can't see?" The Bat scowled at him, Xander either didn't notice or didn't care. "Are you really that much of a hardliner that you would rather see her in jail then on the street saving lives?"

"Forget this, Xander," Harley said. "If he wants to take me back, let him try. He's going to find that I'm not so easy to push around anymore." She took up a fighting stance and started toward the caped crusader. Batman opened his cape and took up a stance of his own.

"No, stop. Stop! Both of you!" Xander shouted, getting in between them. He knew if this escalated to violence, regardless of the immediate outcome, it wouldn't bode well for Harley. "Just think about this for a second! Harley has a real chance right now, to get out from under the thumb of that lunatic clown, to make a real life for herself. If you send her back, you destroy that. You'll be introducing an angry, confused woman with superpowers into a violent environment, what do you think will happen? You're going to start the cycle all over again. You're going to reinforce the idea that she'll never be able to go straight, that she'll never be given the chance to turn her life around. The Joker will eventually break her out, and then he'll have a slayer by his side. What kind of sense does that make? If you're really serious about giving people like Harley a shot at rehabilitation, then don't take this away from her now. Give her a chance."

"And why should I? Why does she deserve another chance?"

"Talk to her, look her in the eye, spend a few minutes with her and you can see it. She deserves it because she wants it, because deep in her heart she's not an evil person, she never was. Misguided maybe, but not evil. She has a good heart, and the soul of a warrior. She has what it takes to be a great slayer, she just needs someone to believe in her. She needs someone to give her a chance to prove herself, and she's going to show us all what she's really made of."

Harley's arms fell to her side as she listened to Xander's plea. Up until now, this whole hero thing had been an interesting experiment. She didn't realize until Batman showed up how much she really wanted it. And she didn't realize until she heard Xander defend her, how much he believed in her, and how much it mattered to her what he thought. She didn't want to fight the Bat anymore, because she wanted to show him that he was right about her.

"And what if she's playing you?" Batman asked. "Do you want to be responsible if she hurts somebody?"

Xander didn't flinch. "I'm her Watcher. She's already my responsibility."

For a long time Batman just stared at them both. Xander held his gaze defiantly. Harley stood next to him, wrapping her arm around his. His confidence gave her strength. She looked at the Bat and waited.

Finally Batman turned, and walked toward the window. He stopped as he stepped up onto the ledge and turned his head back. "For your sake, I hope your right about her," he said. Then he was gone.

Xander wasn't sure, but just before he jumped out of the window, he thought he saw the faintest hint of a smile at the corner of Batman's mouth.

Harley cried out with glee, pulling Xander into a hug and spinning around like an excited child. "I can't believe what I just saw! I can't believe you did that!" she said, the smile on her face a mile wide.

"I can't believe he backed down," Xander said.

"I've been involved with my fair share of run-ins with the Bat before, and I've seen people fight him, I've seen people shoot at him, I've seen people run away from him, but I have never seen anyone do what you just did. I've never seen anyone stand up to him."

Xander's face suddenly looked ashen. "I…I did what now?"

"You stood up to the Bat, and he backed down. And you did it for me. I…I can't believe it."

"I meant every word of it," Xander said. "I was just, so afraid that he would take you, I…I didn't even think about what I was doing. I…stood up to Batman." Harley nodded. "I think I need to sit down."

Harley led him over to the living room area and he sat down on the couch. She sat next to him, still holding his arm. "I don't know how to thank you," she said. "All those wonderful things that you said about me…"

"You don't have to thank me, I just told the truth. It's what you deserve. I couldn't let him take that away from you."

"I've never known anybody before who would have defended me like that. I've never known anybody who thought I was worth a damn."

Xander turned and looked at her. Her eyes were like brilliant blue oceans, and he felt like he was falling in. "Well it was their loss, for not seeing how special you are."

Harley climbed onto his lap, reached up and pulled him into a kiss. Xander was surprised at first, but soon he responded in kind. He wrapped his arms around her, snaking his hands up through her hair, holding her close to him. The feel of her body against his, of her warm, soft mouth against his own, it was exhilarating. At that moment, all he wanted was to be close to her. The rest of the world just faded away.

After a few minutes they came up for air. Harley pulled back and looked at him, stroking his face gently. "Are you sure about this?" Xander asked. Somewhere in the back of his mind he was vaguely aware that it was wrong for a Watcher to become involved with his slayer, but at the moment he didn't care about that. All he cared about was Harley, and doing what was right for her. He knew that she was in an emotionally vulnerable place and he didn't want to take advantage of that if her feelings for him weren't real. But the way that she looked at him with those big blue eyes told him that they were.

Harley smiled at him. "I've never been so sure of anything in my life," she said softly.

To be continued…


End file.
